-activity set to commence later this month
AS Guyana continues its fight to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis, the Ministry of Public Health will be taking its Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme to eight of the ten administrative regions.
The Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) will roll out the MDA campaign under the slogan: Protect Yourself! Protect your family! Protect your community! Take your Filaria pills! And the ministry is encouraging everyone to take their pills in order to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis.
Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) or ‘Filaria’, as it is more commonly called, affects the body’s lymphatic system, which functions to remove unwanted fluids from the body and transports ‘lymph’- a fluid which contains white blood cells that help to fight infections.
In Guyana, filariasis is caused by the Wuchereria bancrofti worm and is transmitted from human to human by the Culex mosquito. The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis began in 2001 in Guyana. The WHO states that this disease is caused by infection with parasitic worms called nematodes, classified as “filarial worms.” In Guyana, the disease is prevalent mostly in the coastal areas. And this was confirmed during a “remapping survey” which was conducted by the public health ministry, in 2018.
“It was clear that there was a coastal spread of the infection,” said Director of the Vector Control Unit, Dr. Horace Cox during an interactive session on the MDA which was organised by the public health ministry and PAHO/WHO.
According to Dr. Cox, the remapping survey was done as an update to a 2001 survey which was conducted in Regions Three (Essequibo Islands- West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) and Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
The 2001 survey was used as a guide to start the MDA campaign in those regions, but with the findings from the new survey, the new MDA campaign will be targeting an additional four regions. Those Regions include Region One (Barima-Waini), Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
The new MDA campaign is set to commence later this month and will include a new treatment regimen.
Dr. Cox said, compared to previous years’ MDA, where two drugs Diethyicarbon (DEC) and Albendazole, were distributed in targeted regions, this year, the new drug regimen will include the pill, Ivermectin. This regimen is called IDA.
“There is clear evidence that IDA is more effective than the two-drug treatment,” he said, adding that, now, instead of having to conduct the exercise for five successive years, the authorities will only have to do it for two consecutive years. This, he said, will save time, finance and human resources.
Although the new regimen will be effective, it was reported that in 2017 and 2018, more than 80 per cent of eligible Guyanese in Regions Three, Four, Five and 10 took the Diethyicarbamazine (DEC) and Albendazole, making those very successful years.
Dr Jean Alexandre, Advisor Communicable Disease and Environmental Health, attached to PAHO/WHO said Guyana is on course to achieving 100 per cent coverage for the first time. He said the MDA strategy will be targeting schools, fixed points and households.
As Guyana approaches the mark of 100 per cent coverage, the country will be hoping to come off of the global list of countries that are yet to eliminate Filariasis. Guyana and Haiti are the only two countries that are yet to exit the list. The only way it can be achieved is if everyone participates in the MDA, said Dr. Reza Niles, the Focal Point for Neglected Infectious Diseases.
She said it is important to participate in the campaign because Filariasis can only be cured in the early stage when there are no signs of the disease. One Filariasis patient, Trudy Drepaul said she is facing the consequences of “Filaria” because she did not take the pills.
A tearful Drepaul said: “when they came around with the pills I ensure that my entire family took it, but I did not take it… this is a fate I would not wish for anyone so take your pills!”
